📖Epistle (II Cor 8, 16-24)
Brethren: I give thanks to God, who has put the same solicitude for you in the heart of Titus. For not only did he accept my exhortation, but being himself very zealous, he has gone to you of his own accord. And we have sent with him the brother whose praise in the gospel is throughout all the churches—and not only that, but who has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us in this work of grace which is being rendered by us to the glory of the Lord and to show our good will. We are taking this precaution to prevent anyone from blaming us in the matter of this generous offering which is being administered by us. For we have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now so much more earnest because of his great confidence in you. As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow-worker among you; as for our brethren, they are the messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. Therefore, show to them in the presence of the churches the proof of your charity and of our boasting on your behalf.
✝️Gospel (Lk 10, 1-9)
At that time, the Lord appointed seventy-two others, and sent them two by two before him into every city and place where he himself was to come. And he said to them, “The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and salute no one on the way. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ And if a son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, it shall return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they have, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. And whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you, and heal the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’”
🙏Reflections
📜By sending the seventy-two disciples, the Lord prefigures the universality of the apostolic preaching, which is not restricted to the Twelve. St. Gregory the Great teaches that just as the Apostles represent the bishops, the seventy-two disciples symbolize the presbyters, the cooperators of the second order, sent to prepare the way of the Lord. The instruction "salute no one on the way" is not a command against charity, but a precept against distraction and the waste of time on worldly matters when the urgency of preaching the Kingdom is at stake. St. Luke, by recording this episode, not only narrates an event but defines the identity of the missionary: a laborer dependent on providence, a bearer of Christ's peace, and a herald of the nearness of the Kingdom of God. Luke himself lived out this sending, not as one of the original seventy-two, but as an evangelist whose written work became a perennial instrument for the Lord to "enter" countless cities and hearts throughout the centuries. (St. Gregory the Great, Homilies on the Gospels, Homily 17).
✉️Many Church Fathers, such as St. John Chrysostom, identify the "brother whose praise in the gospel is throughout all the churches," mentioned by St. Paul in the epistle, as St. Luke himself. This passage thus becomes a direct apostolic testimony about the evangelist. The praise was not only for his oral preaching but, above all, for his written Gospel, which was already beginning to be disseminated and esteemed. The trust St. Paul places in him for the administration of the collection ("work of grace") reveals St. Luke's integrity and diligence, characteristics he certainly applied with even greater zeal to the task of faithfully investigating and recording the facts of the life of Christ and the nascent Church. He is, therefore, the model of the apostolic collaborator whose glory is not his own, but a reflection of the "glory of Christ." (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, Homily 18).
🏛️The Roman Catechism, in expounding on the apostolicity of the Church, affirms that she is built on the foundation of the Apostles and perseveres in their doctrine, fellowship, and succession. The work of St. Luke, especially the Acts of the Apostles, constitutes the primary historical source documenting this truth of faith, narrating how Christ's mandate, recorded in today's Gospel, was carried out by Peter, Paul, and the others. The sending of the disciples "into every city and place" finds its magisterial echo in documents such as Pope Benedict XV's Encyclical Maximum Illud, which reiterates the perennial urgency of the mission ad gentes. St. Luke, a Gentile who wrote for Gentiles, personifies the fulfillment of this universal mission, demonstrating that the Lord's harvest transcends ethnic and cultural boundaries and that the Gospel is destined for all peoples, a principle the Church's Magisterium has always defended as essential to its nature.
➡️See English version of the critical articles here.